Farah Mohamed Jama Awl (, ; 1937–1991), usually credited as Farah Awl, was a Somali writer. His surname ''Cawl'' () means "gazelle", was the nickname of his great-grandfather who was the Sultan of the

Warsangali The Warsangali (, ), alternatively the Mohamoud Harti, are a major Somali sub clan, part of the larger Harti branch, which belongs to the Darod clan, one of the largest Somali tribe families. In the Somali language, the name Warsangali means "b ...

clan. The Awl family also includes the Warsangali Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire.

Biography

Awl was born in 1937 in the town of

Las Khorey Las Qoray (, ) is a historic coastal town in the Sanaag region of Somalia. BBC reported in 2021, "The Navy or Somalia Coast Guard is one of the military departments of Somalia, operating on the coast of Somaliland in Las Qoray, Zeila and Berbera ...

in North eastern

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. In his youth, he obtained a scholarship to study

aeronautical Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred solely to ''ope ...

and automobile engineering in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the United Kingdom (1959–62). Upon graduation, he moved to Somalia and worked with the

police force The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizen ...

and the National Transport Agency in

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

. The vivid descriptions of Somalia's scenery and fauna in Awl's literary corpus, as well as the inclusion of traditional Somali poetry, make it stand out in particular. He also has the distinction of being the first Somali novelist to write in the nascent

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

for the

Somali language Somali is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Somalis, Somali people, native to Greater Somalia. It is an official language in Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethio ...

after its formalization in 1972. Awl was a member of the royal family of the Warsangali clan. Reportedly because of his membership in the

Darod The Darod (, ) is a Somali clan. The forefather of this clan is Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, more commonly known as Darod. The clan primarily settles the apex of the Horn of Africa and its peripheries, the Somali hinterlands adjacent ...

clan family, Awl, along with three of his children, was killed in 1991, at the height of the civil unrest that gripped the town of

Beledweyne Beledweyne (, ) is a city in central Somalia. Beledweyne District is the capital city of the Hiran region. The city is situated in the Shebelle Valley riverine near the Ethiopian border, 210 miles (345 km) north of Mogadishu. Beledweyne ...

in the Hiiraan region. He is survived by his wife and one son, Dahir Farah.Faarax MJ Cawl, ''Ignorance is the enemy of love.'', Translated from the Somali with introduction and notes, London, Zed Books, 'New Fiction' Series. (Revised reissue of the 1982 edition), 1984

Bibliography

*''Aqoondarro waa U nacab jacayl'' ("Ignorance is the enemy of love"), 1982 *''Garbaduubkii gumeysiga'' ("The Shackles of Colonialism"), 1978 *''Dhibbanaha aan dhalan'' ("The Unborn Victim"), 1989 *''Aqoondarro waa u nacab jacayl'', 1974

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awl, Farah 1937 births 1991 deaths Somalian novelists 20th-century novelists Sanaag

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References